Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about the issue of unlicensed tourism operators in the Northwest Territories. I'd like to ask the Minister of Industry Tourism and Investment if he can speak to these issues. Internal documents reveal a significant number of complaints concerning illegal tour operators in the NWT. When was the Minister first made aware of these illegal operations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 10-18(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here we go again.

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of Bill 20: Ombudsperson Act and commends it to the House.

Bill 20, sponsored by the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency, provides for the appointment of an Ombudsperson as an officer of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. The bill establishes the mandate of the Ombudsperson to investigate complaints about the administrative fairness of Government of the Northwest Territories' practices, in order to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move, pursuant to Rule 6(2) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly, that the Committee of the Whole continue to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment for the purpose of continuing consideration of Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 9-18(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, and commends it to the House.

Bill 18, sponsored by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), amends the Cities, Towns and Villages (CTV) Act to provide municipal councils governed under the act with new powers: the authority to impose a tax on tourist accommodations; and the authority to allow property owners to finance energy efficiency or renewable energy works through local...

Again, this was a difficult matter for committee because we wanted to ensure that the administrative burden of these exemptions was not overly, we wanted to make sure there wasn't additional red tape created with the creation of these bylaws for the hotel industry, or for the City of Yellowknife or any municipality that wants to implement these taxes. Further, we wanted to ensure that the tax revenue wasn't unduly impacted by revenues.

Can the Minister commit to doing that analysis of tax revenues and reporting back to a committee as soon as those numbers are available so we can see how this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee wrestled with this bill, and the biggest issue, as we mentioned in the report, was the exemptions. So I'm wondering if the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has done a calculation on the prospective revenues that will be generated by this tax, specifically in the City of Yellowknife, which is the only municipality planning on bringing it in; if they have done just a rough estimate of what the total tax revenue will be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I disagree with the Minister. I don't think this is a deterrent to tourists coming; I think it might be a deterrent for people who might be wanting to operate unlicensed operations.

The Minister said that we are the only jurisdiction in Canada that requires licences. What is the specific policy rationale for that, if no one else deems this necessary and it is not an industry standard in Canada? Why are we requiring additional red tape for something that the Minister says isn't a problem? Thank you.